Information management and customization based on user interests and previous transactions

ABSTRACT

Identifying user input data on a mobile user device may provide a way to predict the types of questions and actions a user will take and offer information contemporaneously with such actions. One example method of operation includes identifying an active application programming interface (API) of a presently operating application executing on the user device, and identifying input data populating the application. Then, storing and processing the input data to identify a topic of interest and retrieving relevant content that is associated with the topic of interest, and creating a recommendation message based on the relevant content.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE APPLICATION

This application relates to information management and customization andmore particularly to incorporating user's interests and transactions toprepare future information processing operations.

BACKGROUND OF THE APPLICATION

Software defined networking (SDN) is an approach to computer networkingthat permits network administrators to manage network services throughthe abstraction of lower level functionality. For example, thisabstraction is accomplished by decoupling the functionality that wouldnormally make decisions about where traffic is sent (i.e., the controlplane) from the underlying layers that forward traffic to the selecteddestination (i.e., the data plane).

In one example, when a packet arrives at a conventional networkingswitch, predefined rules instruct the switch where to forward thepacket. In general, every packet may be sent to the same destination andalong the same path thus treating all similar packets in the samemanner. However, the goal of SDN is to enable network engineers andadministrators with the ability to shape traffic from a centralizedcontrol console without having to interact with the individual switches.The shaping of traffic includes prioritizing, de-prioritizing andblocking specific types of packets at a granular level of control.

SDN implementations are emerging architectures that offer dynamic,manageable, cost-effective, and adaptable approaches for thehigh-bandwidth, dynamic nature of today's applications. SDNarchitectures decouple network control and forwarding functions,enabling network control to become directly programmable and theunderlying infrastructure to be abstracted from applications and networkservices.

SUMMARY OF THE APPLICATION

One example embodiment may provide a method that includes at least oneof identifying an active application programming interface (API) of apresently operating application executing on a user device, identifyinginput data populating at least one portion of the presently operatingapplication, storing and processing the input data to identify a firsttopic of interest at an application server, retrieving relevant contentthat is associated with the first topic of interest, and creating arecommendation message based on the relevant content.

Another example embodiment may include an apparatus that includes aprocessor configured to perform at least one of identify an activeapplication programming interface (API) of a presently operatingapplication, identify input data populating at least one portion of thepresently operating application, process the input data to identify afirst topic of interest, and a memory configured to store the inputdata, and the processor is further configured to retrieve relevantcontent that is associated with the first topic of interest, and createa recommendation message based on the relevant content.

Yet another example embodiment includes a non-transitory computerreadable storage medium configured to store instructions that whenexecuted causes a processor to perform at least one of identifying anactive application programming interface (API) of a presently operatingapplication executing on a user device, identifying input datapopulating at least one portion of the presently operating application,storing and processing the input data to identify a first topic ofinterest at an application server, retrieving relevant content that isassociated with the first topic of interest, and creating arecommendation message based on the relevant content.

Yet still another example embodiment may include a method configured toperform at least one of identifying an active application programminginterface (API) of a presently operating application executing on a userdevice, identifying input data populating at least one portion of thepresently operating application via an application server, retrieving atleast one user characteristic, processing the input data based on the atleast one user characteristic and creating a customized suggestionmessage that utilizes the at least one user characteristic to providecustomized content in the customized suggestion message, andtransmitting the customized suggestion message to the user device.

Yet still a further example embodiment may include an apparatus with aprocessor configured to perform at least one of identify an activeapplication programming interface (API) of a presently operatingapplication executing on a user device, identify input data populatingat least one portion of the presently operating application via anapplication server, retrieve at least one user characteristic, processthe input data based on the at least one user characteristic and createa customized suggestion message that utilizes the at least one usercharacteristic to provide customized content in the customizedsuggestion message, and a transmitter configured to transmit thecustomized suggestion message to the user device.

Still yet another example embodiment may include a non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium configured to store instructions thatwhen executed causes a processor to perform at least one of identifyingan active application programming interface (API) of a presentlyoperating application executing on a user device, identifying input datapopulating at least one portion of the presently operating applicationvia an application server, retrieving at least one user characteristic,processing the input data based on the at least one user characteristicand creating a customized suggestion message that utilizes the at leastone user characteristic to provide customized content in the customizedsuggestion message, and transmitting the customized suggestion messageto the user device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a SDN system architecture diagram according to anexample embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 2 illustrates a network configuration according to an exampleembodiment of the present application.

FIG. 3 illustrates a logic diagram of an application architectureaccording to an example embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example client device configuration according toan example embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 5 illustrates another example logic diagram according to exampleembodiments of the present application.

FIG. 6A illustrates an example table of saved results according to anexample embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 6B illustrates an example table of weighted results according to anexample embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 6C illustrates an example table of weighted local results accordingto an example embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 6D illustrates an example table of weighted remote resultsaccording to an example embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 6E illustrates an example table of symbols and function pairingsaccording to an example embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 6F illustrates an example table of weighted functions andexpression details according to an example embodiment of the presentapplication.

FIG. 7 illustrates another example logic diagram according to an exampleembodiment of the present application.

FIG. 8 illustrates a system signaling diagram according to exampleembodiments of the present application.

FIG. 9 illustrates another system signaling diagram according to exampleembodiments of the present application.

FIG. 10 illustrates yet another system signaling diagram according toexample embodiments of the present application.

FIG. 11 illustrates a system configuration to perform one or more of theexample embodiments of the present application.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example network entity device configured to storeinstructions, software, and corresponding hardware for executing thesame, according to example embodiments of the present application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE APPLICATION

It will be readily understood that the components of the presentapplication, as generally described and illustrated in the figuresherein, may be arranged and designed in a wide variety of differentconfigurations. Thus, the following detailed description of theembodiments of a method, apparatus, and system, as represented in theattached figures, is not intended to limit the scope of the applicationas claimed, but is merely representative of selected embodiments of theapplication.

The features, structures, or characteristics of the applicationdescribed throughout this specification may be combined in any suitablemanner in one or more embodiments. For example, the usage of the phrases“example embodiments”, “some embodiments”, or other similar language,throughout this specification refers to the fact that a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of the presentapplication. Thus, appearances of the phrases “example embodiments”, “insome embodiments”, “in other embodiments”, or other similar language,throughout this specification do not necessarily all refer to the samegroup of embodiments, and the described features, structures, orcharacteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or moreembodiments.

In addition, while the term “message” has been used in the descriptionof embodiments of the present application, the application may beapplied to many types of network data, such as, packet, frame, datagram,etc. For purposes of this application, the term “message” also includespacket, frame, datagram, and any equivalents thereof. Furthermore, whilecertain types of messages and signaling are depicted in exemplaryembodiments of the application, the application is not limited to acertain type of message, and the application is not limited to a certaintype of signaling.

It will be readily understood that the components of the presentapplication, as generally described and illustrated in the figuresherein, may be arranged and designed in a wide variety of differentconfigurations. Thus, the following detailed description of theembodiments of a method, apparatus, and system, as represented in theattached figures, is not intended to limit the scope of the applicationas claimed, but is merely representative of selected embodiments of theapplication.

The features, structures, or characteristics of the applicationdescribed throughout this specification may be combined in any suitablemanner in one or more embodiments. For example, the usage of the phrases“example embodiments”, “some embodiments”, or other similar language,throughout this specification refers to the fact that a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of the presentapplication. Thus, appearances of the phrases “example embodiments”, “insome embodiments”, “in other embodiments”, or other similar language,throughout this specification do not necessarily all refer to the samegroup of embodiments, and the described features, structures, orcharacteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or moreembodiments.

In addition, while the term “message” has been used in the descriptionof embodiments of the present application, the application may beapplied to many types of network data, such as, packet, frame, datagram,etc. For purposes of this application, the term “message” also includespacket, frame, datagram, and any equivalents thereof. Furthermore, whilecertain types of messages and signaling are depicted in exemplaryembodiments of the application, the application is not limited to acertain type of message, and the application is not limited to a certaintype of signaling.

Example embodiments of the present application provide an applicationthat utilizes user's characteristics and/or interests in order toprovide requested and unrequested input. The application parses themessages identified both incoming and outgoing from the user's deviceand can interact with other entities to obtain information that enhancesthe known information in the messages identified to provide alternate,additional, or less information to the user. For example, the messagesmay have a foundational set of characteristics, such as data content,origination address, destination address, etc. However within the corecontent of the message may be data types, data formats, requests,commands, etc. which could lead the application processing modules toextract additional message characteristics for enhanced processingfunctions. The application may examine the message and obtain anunderstanding of the user's characteristics and interests, and examplesprovide a granular approach to the functionalities of the application.

The foundational block diagram of FIG. 1 provides a basic SDNarchitecture configured to perform network traffic manipulationaccording to example embodiments. Referring to FIG. 1, the diagram 100includes a main SDN architecture 110 with three sub-components ormodules including the application layer 120, the control layer 130 andthe infrastructure layer 140. The application layer 120 may processvarious different applications 122 which are linked to the SDNcontroller 132. The data input and output of each of the applications122 corresponds to a number of switches 142 configured to receive themessage forwarding and receiving operations commanded by the SDNcontroller 132.

FIG. 2 illustrates a system diagram according to example embodiments.Referring to FIG. 2, a network diagram 10 of the present applicationpermits a user utilizing a mobile client machine 18, a tablet computer20, a laptop or desktop computer 22 to download from the system server24 an application to be installed. A client's device may alternativelybe a gaming system, a DVD player, or any other device that contains aprocessor and memory. The present application in the form of software,for example can alternately reside on the client's device 18/20/22 andcan be any of a mobile laptop device and/or a personal desktop computeror a mobile device. The computing device 18/20/22 is connected to thenetwork 16, which may be the Internet or any other type of network,through wired or wireless communication. It should be noted that othertypes of devices, in addition to devices 18/20/22, might be used withthe present application. For example, a PDA, an MP3 player or any otherwireless device, a gaming device, such as a hand held system or homebased system and the like including a P.C. or other wired device thatcan also transmit and receive information could be used with the presentapplication.

The user of the application can interface with the client device18/20/22 and connect through the network 16 to the system server 24. Thesystem server 24 can be redundant, or be more than a single entitywithout deviating from the scope of the application. A database 26 isdirectly connected to the system server 24 or connected remotely throughthe network 16 without deviating from the scope of the application.

A remote system server 14 communicates with the network 16. The remotesystem server 14 can be redundant, or be more than a single entitywithout deviating from the scope of the application. A database 12 isdirectly connected to the remote system server 14 or connected remotelythrough the network 16 without deviating from the scope of theapplication. The user-database can reside in the system server 24, orthe database server 26 either directly connected to the system server 24or remotely through the network 16.

The application of the current application resides completely orpartially on the user's device 18/20/22, which can be a mobile device,but can also reside on a user's desktop computer, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), tablet computer, or any other device containing aprocessor, memory, and an operating system. In addition, the applicationof the current application can reside on either completely or partiallyon any one of the other elements in the system illustrated in FIG. 1.

If the application of the current application resides on a device, theapplication of the current application is downloaded through a platform,such as an application store or market residing on the device oraccessed via the device, or may be accessed through the device's browsercommunicably coupled to the network 16. Further, the application of thecurrent application can be pre-loaded on the device. The currentapplication may operate with any device such as a personal computer witha touch screen, a laptop with a touch screen, a personal computingtablet, a smartphone, a PDA or any device with a processor, memory and atouch screen.

FIG. 3 illustrates a logic diagram 30 of the application configurationof the present application. The various applications 19, 21 and 23 arecorrelated with the various user devices 18, 20 and 22 of FIG. 2 as likereference numerals refer to like elements in the various drawings. Thecontroller 56 is an element in the network containing a processor andmemory, and may be implemented in any element in the diagram 10, forexample, the system server 24, the remote system 14, or the databases12/26. The controller 56 is responsible for controlling the flow of asubset of information to and from the users (18/20/22).

The forwarding plane 58 is responsible for the parsing and filtering theincoming and/or outgoing data which includes, but is not limited to: 1)queuing the data, 2) forwarding the data to another network element, 3)deleting the data, 4) altering or augmenting the data which includes butis not limited to adding, replacing, and/or rewording the data. Theactions are triggered by the incoming data being processed by theforwarding plane which performs at least one of parsing and filtering ofthe data. In one embodiment, the forwarding plane 58 can reside insidethe controller 56. In another embodiment, the forwarding plane 58 canreside outside the controller 56.

The controller 56 is connected directly or through the network 16 to thesystem server 24. In another embodiment, user A 18, user B 20 and user‘N’ 22 are utilizing the same present application through differentdevices. In another embodiment and as example only, the application18/20/22 can be connected to the controller 56 without the network 16.In another embodiment, the node 60 can be communicably coupled to thecontroller 56 connected through the network 16.

FIG. 4 is an example configuration 101 of the controller being part ofthe client device. Client device 18/20/22 preferably includesmicroprocessor 40, memory 31, input/output (I/O) components 50, wirelessreceiver 61 and antenna 65. In an example embodiment, these componentsof mobile device 18/20/22 are coupled for communication with one anotherover a suitable bus 70. Memory 31 is preferably implemented asnon-volatile electronic memory, such as random access memory (RAM) witha battery back-up module (not shown) such that information stored inmemory 31 is not lost when the power to client device 18/20/22 is shutdown. A portion of memory 31 is preferably allocated as addressablememory for program execution, while another portion of memory 31 ispreferably used for storage, such as to simulate storage on a discdrive. Memory 31 includes operating system 36, one or more applicationprogram(s) 32, such as a personal information manager or PIM as well asa controller 56. A forwarding plane 58 exists in the controller 56.During operation, operating system 36 is preferably executed byprocessor 40 from memory 31. I/O components 50 are provided tofacilitate input and output operations from a user of client device18/20/22. The client device 18/20/22 is coupled to the network 16.

In operation, the sent and/or received data to and from a user device18/20/22 of the current application 32 is either sent out, or receivedby the application 32. The messages are “filtered” through thecontroller 56 via certain filtering criteria. The controller 56communicates with the system server through the network 16. Unfilteredor ‘raw data’ can potentially be a duplicate of previously receivedinformation, or information that the user may not be interested inpursuing due to various reasons. This application filters and examinesincoming and outgoing information that may be considered uninterestingto the user or the recipients of the outgoing information.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example configuration 200 of the controller beingoutside the client device 18/20/22. Referring to FIG. 5, the controller56 is across the network from the remote system servers 14 and theuser's device as depicted by the network 16 and the other networkelements. The client device 18/20/22 interacts with the controller 56 somessage(s) are first passed through the controller 56 before being sentto the network 16 for outgoing messages or sent to the client device18/20/22 for incoming messages.

In an example where further information is sought, the controller 56accesses remote systems devices 14 through the network 16. The remotesystem devices 14 may be functionally setup via an application programinterfaces (API). Using the APIs or a similar interaction, thecontroller 56 may obtain information that offers additional input thatmay be sent to the client device 18/20/22 without the user directlyrequesting additional information. The remote system devices 14 may beany remote element in the network containing a processor and memory, andwhich is coupled to the network 16 through any communication protocolnormally utilized in communication between a computer and a network.

To provide a procedure of analyzing classifying and/or controllingoutgoing and incoming messages, a message gateway or ‘controller’ 56 mayprocess all such outgoing messages by filtering such messages beforeleaving the organization. This permits some control over the messagesfrom an organization and validates the messages being delivered to thenetwork. In operation, messages are “captured” in the controller 56prior to being transmitted. Once captured by the controller 56, themessages are compared to previously delivered messages to verify thatthe outgoing messages are different from the previously logged messages.Other procedures may include determining the messages are similar butfrom a different sender/receiver and/or whether the messages areprovided in a different format.

Messages captured may be compared to those that were previously receivedand compared against those that are considered “real time” and thosethat are considered historical messages. In one embodiment, apredetermined value is set to determine which messages are real-timemessages and which are historical messages (e.g., 2, hours, 4 hours,etc.).

Incoming information may be delivered to the user such that theinformation is optimized to be of a greater level of interest to theuser than would normally be received. This information may be from otherpeople/users or generated from the system server 24 based on interactionbetween the system server 24 and the controller 56/forwarding plane 58.The system server 24 may analyze the information being received anddetermine that the information is a duplicate of already receivedinformation, or determine that other related information would be moreuseful to the user as the preferences and characteristics of the userare identified.

The controller 56 is responsible for handling the messaging bothincoming and outgoing to the client device 18/20/22. Messages are sentthrough the controller and pre-processed prior to being transmitted.Once processed, the messages are either sent up to the client device18/20/22 or to the network 16 or node 60 of FIG. 3. In one exampleembodiment, data contained in the controller 56 may contain morereal-time data than historical data as compared to the system/DB 24/26which may contain more historical data. The controller 56 decides how torespond to users by analyzing the incoming messages and interacting withthe previous messages and other data stored in a coupled element, suchas the system server 24. The forwarding plane 58 may be located insidethe controller 56. This element is responsible for forwarding themessage(s) to obtain more information.

When processing the data in the forwarding plane 58, the controller 56can queue the data for use at a later time, forward the data to anothernetwork element, delete the data, alter and/or augment the data (i.e.,add, replace, reword, include image/video from a data source) prior totransmitting the data to its intended destination. In operation, thedata the user is transmitting may be modified based on user preferences,user characteristics and other user based criteria prior to transmittingthe data from the user device.

The application may perform certain operations in order to understandthe user. This understanding relates to not only the interests of theuser, but the normal interactions between the user and other people. Forexample, interest groups, such as other people in the user'sorganization, work environment or other people in other workenvironments. The current application may determine the user'scharacteristics and interests and how the user interacts with othersthrough interactions (i.e. messaging, applications, etc.).

The application can gain an understanding of the user by examining anyor all of information that has been received by the user device, such aswhen the user is online, advertisement information that the user mayhave selected on a user interface, searches submitted and informationrequested, groups that the user has obtained member, emails that theuser sent or received, calendar events currently subscribed to the user,historical web surfing habits stored in web history locations, a currentlocation of the user as obtained from IP address, GPS, or other locationfunctions, online games that the user has accessed, digital videorecordings (DVR) programs, live video streaming/Internet protocoltelevision (IPTV), web-based shows, television-based shows, radio/musicplatforms/music applications/music players, GPS, cellular/mobile deviceusage, etc.

In one example, the user's history of online web access may include theweb history stored in a web history file on the user's device and datastored in the network 16. All the web browsers retain Internet surfinginformation in the form of files stored on the user's device. These webhistory files can be processed to determine information that can aid theapplication in delivering messages related to the user. For example, arequest initiated by a user device may reference the web history filefor additional information and may include such additional informationor at least cross-reference the information in the request message toconfirm or add additional information based on information in the webhistory file.

Other options can be employed to gain an understanding of the user'sprevious Internet surfing history. For instance, GOOGLE and YAHOO, offerfree services that can be utilized to perform email capabilities, managegroups, search the web, manage information, such as advertisements,manage calendar activities, manage documents, as well as many otherservices. This approach differs substantially from the conventionalapproaches since the current application provides the ability tocreate/modify messages based on information that has appeared in theuser's information sources.

In another embodiment of the current application, the application cancontinue to monitor the user's information and provide updates to thesearch results reflecting changes in the user, such as the user devicelocation or newly identified interests. The user's data results from theuser's local data files (i.e., tracking files) or client device 18/20/22can be weighed against the user's data results returned from the remotesystem server 14 so the weighing operation can determine a priority ofthe results. The remote system server 14 can include informationpertaining to the user and stored in the cloud or network 16. Whenobtaining the user's data, the latest data with a most current timestampcan be given a higher weight than older data.

The table in FIG. 6A demonstrates an example weighing configuration thatcan be utilized to determine which data is most relevant to the currentapplication. The table 600 includes various categories 602 which mayhave a record on more than one machine. For example, the informationclicked by a user may be logged in both the local system device 604(i.e., local server, user device) and/or at a remote server device 606.Categories may include the information clicked, information served,requested searches, groups joined/created, emails, calendar events, websurfing queries/results, present and/or previous locations, gamesaccessed, video accessed, and/or GPS location(s). The numbers in table600 represent weights assigned to the various locations and categories.For example, the highest or greatest weight of 7 may be assigned to alocation of the user device or “local system”. A user's present locationfor purposes of this example is the highest weighted category for aparticular location with a weight of 7, or in this example (7× thenumber of instances recorded).

Table 600 illustrates the possible weights assigned for each category ofthe user's interests or characteristics. Weights are assigned accordingto the validity of the information found in that recording system (localor remote). The location of the user as determined by the IP address ordetermined via GPS data would be more accurate when obtained from thelocal system than from the remote system as the local system would havethe most up to date and correct data. For calendar events, because it isunknown whether the user uses an online calendar or a calendar that isonly local to the user's system, the weight may be the same in thoseinstances. Both the local and remote systems can contain data from theuser's current calendar, thus it would be assigned the same weight. Theuser's Internet access history would have a higher weight from the localsystem as this is where the most up-to-date surfing history is normallystored (i.e., cached pages, queries, etc.). Table 600 is an example of aweighing configuration that can be incorporated into the application.Other weighing applications can be utilized without deviating from thescope of the current application.

In FIG. 6B, when results are received from both the local and remotesystem devices, the table 610 may aid in determining the priority of thedata with a category column 612 and a corresponding weight 614, howeverit can be seen in table 610 that both emails and calendar events havethe same highest level of weight for both local and remote systemservers. If data is received from both systems, the data with the latesttimestamp can be utilized in the application.

FIG. 6B illustrates the table 610 with the weights assigned to theresults and the priority of the results are associated with the valuegiven to that particular result. The weights assigned in table 610 arecalculated by adding the two values in table 600 for each row. This isinterpreted in understanding that when the results are weighed, bothemails and calendar events have the higher weight than other results, asboth emails and calendar events are usually two of the higher utilizedapplications on a daily basis, and would thus contain the mostup-to-date data or the data reflecting the current “temperature” of theuser. In another embodiment, any other weighing system may be utilizedwithout deviating from the scope of the current application.

FIG. 6C illustrates table 620 having weights for priority to the localsystem server. Table 620 calculates the weights and the results so thevalues in table 620 are calculated by the following expression: LocalWeights×2+Remote Weights. This weights the results from the local systemdevice as twice as much as the weights of the results from the remotesystem device.

In another example of FIG. 6D, the table 630 includes weighing theresults by performing the reverse calculation: Local Weights+RemoteWeights×2. This procedure weights the results from the remote systemdevice as twice as high as the weights of the results from the localdevice. In another example embodiment, any other multiplier or weighingsystem may be utilized without deviating from the scope of the currentapplication. Other types of weights can be determined according to theorigination of the result (local vs. remote), various combinations ofthe results, and the time stamp of the results.

FIG. 6E includes a table 640 with a symbol and a corresponding function.Referring to table 640, the symbol 642 ‘A’ is mapped to the ‘Informationclicked’ function 644 and the symbol 642 ‘B’ is mapped to theinformation served and so on. In this example table 640 maps each of thefunctional areas of the possible results to a symbol that is then usedin the equations of FIG. 6F to determine the weights for variousscenarios.

FIG. 6F provides a table 650 with an equation 652 and description 654 ofthe equations. For instance, K13+[A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J] is the GPSlocal×3+other data, G12+[A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J] is the surfing historylocal×2+other data. (Fr+Dr)2+[A,B,C,E,G,H,I,J,K] is the remote groupsand calendars×2+other data, If ([A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K]timestamp<=5days) then [A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K]2 is data×2 if the timestamp isrecent. G12+[A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J] is the surfing history local×2+otherdata, (A+K)2+(A+E) is the information clicked+GPS>>informationclicked+email.

The calculations described above and with reference to table 650 areexamples of the functionality of the current application where thecalculations are used to determine the interests of the user. In anotherembodiment of the current application, the user has the opportunity tocustomize the weights of the results when creating the medium. Forexample, a GUI window is provided that permits the user to determine ifspecific results have a higher or lower weight than what the systemapplication originally determined. The system of the current applicationcan utilize the customized weights in determining the content on thecreated medium.

In another embodiment, the user may have the opportunity to validate theresults by acknowledging the result from the system server 24. Theclient device 18/20/22 receives notification of the interest found fromthe system server 24 by receiving a notification routed through thenetwork 16. The user can interact with the display to accept the foundinterest or deny the interest. A response message is returned to thesystem server 24 routed through the network 16 to complete thecorrespondence. The GUI window may be used to adjust the weights and isavailable to the user to make adjustments and determine how the systembehaves when determining how the results are utilized in creating thesearch results.

In another embodiment of the present application, the handling of thelack of data contained in the Internet files is performed. The files maynot contain relevant data due to the ability for the user to erase theirhistory via the browser, or to enable “private browsing”. Privatebrowsing is gaining more popularity among browsers. When a user enablesprivate browsing, the local system does not store local tracking files.If a user of the current application has private browsing turned on, thelocal system may not contain updated tracking files, thus when queryingboth the local and remote systems, the remote data can be given a higherweight due to the lack of the local data or an older and unacceptabletimestamp (i.e., older than threshold time reference).

In another embodiment of the present application, the application isdeveloped on both a web-application operating inside of the user'sInternet browser, as well as an application on the user's desktop. Inthe case of the application operating in the user's browser, a pop-upoperation may take place permitting the application to alert the user tonotifications, similar to what the desktop application can permit. Thisensures that notifications could be successfully sent to the userregardless of the platform developed. In another embodiment, any otherweighing operation may be utilized without deviating from the scope ofthe current application.

FIG. 7 is an example of an implementation of the current application 300operating on network elements utilized to obtain and store thecharacteristics of the user. The user characteristics may be obtained inthe client/user device as well as through the monitoring of the user'sinteractions with others devices, web sites, etc. These characteristicsmay be obtained through the local client device 18/20/22 and/or theremote system server 14, which is accessed through the network 16, whichmay be the global Internet. The remote system 14 may be a remotelylocated database similar to companies offering cloud services, whichpermit user interactions, and user data that is stored in a remotelocation, accessed through the network 16. The other system server 24may be utilized to store the interests and/or characteristics of theuser. In another embodiment, there may be a database coupled to thesystem either locally or remotely such that the database may be utilizedto store the interests and/or characteristics of the user. Theapplication monitors the activity of the user through parsing themessages and interactions between the user and outside parties and mayinterject suggestions that the user has not particularly requested.

The application maintains an understanding of the characteristics andinterests of the user through functionality described in the followingexamples. Using this identified understanding, the application may makeassumptions and offer suggestions to the user without the userrequesting the information. For example, the user may be interactingwith other parties and communicating about ‘investments’. The user maybe blogging, chatting, transmitting text and/or emails messages, etc.,all of which are processed and categorized for terms, phrases,transactions, etc. The identified category of information ‘investments’is extracted and inquires can be generated about how to invest moneyinto different investment strategies. In one embodiment, the messagesare parsed by the controller 56 and/or the system/DB 24/26 and themessages (i.e. conversation) are stored in the system/DB 24/26 for lateranalysis by the system/DB 24/26. After an appreciable time period,either automatically calculated or configured by the user in theapplication's configuration area, the controller 56 and/or the system/DB24/26 initiates functionality to interject additional information intothe conversation. The messages in the current conversation are stored inthe system/DB 24/26 and are available for analysis by the system 24 todetermine areas to analyze. The system 24 may determine that theconversation is regarding investments, stocks, bonds, etc.

In another embodiment, the current application may be functionallyemployed upon receiving a “trigger word” as received by the user. Thistrigger word is a predetermined word or phrase determined by the user.When a received trigger word is processed, the functionality to executethe current, application functionality is initiated. Such a trigger wordmay be established by the software's configuration module such that theuser is able to input the trigger word through either speech input tothe device 18/20/22 or text data entered. The user may speak or entertext equal or comparable to the trigger word, permitting the software toprocess the received text in the current embodiments. Natural languageprocessing (NLP) may be utilized to analyze the received speech and/ortext to determine trigger words that may be equal, or mostly equal tothe predetermined trigger word.

Continuing with the same example, the system 24, having access to thecharacteristics and interests of the user through determines that due tothe age, financial situation, marital status, debt ratio, etc. of theuser of the application, the user is justified to research bonds as aninvestment option since bonds have a particular demographic ofparameters which have been satisfied by that user. In anotherembodiment, the system having access to interactions, such as through anAPI with the internal or external investment application in use by theorganization, is able to obtain the current investment options selectedby the user. The application can then generate a more direct and correctadvisement to the user. For instance, the system determines that no bondfunds are currently being invested by the user's account and determinesthat, according to the characteristics of the user (i.e., minimumaccount balance, investment goals, etc.) that bond funds should belooked considered. A message is then generated and sent to the clientdevice 18/20/22 of the user of the application. This message states thatthe system has determined that research/purchases should be performed bythat user on ‘bond funds’. In another embodiment, the applicationdisplays the rationale as to why bond funds should be researched. Inanother embodiment, the system retrieves and displays a list of bondfunds that may be of interest to the user using the characteristics ofthe user obtained previously.

In another embodiment, the rationale as to why the list of bond fundsshould be researched is provided as well. In another embodiment andcontinuing with the same example, it is determined by the system server24 that among all of the investments that the user is currentlyinvesting, 30% of the investments contain a particular stock. This isaccomplished by the system server 24 in either determining thecharacteristics and/or interests of the user as described and/or byinteracting with the investment application in use by the organization,which may be internal to the organization or outside of theorganization. Therefore, none of the recommended bond funds contain thatparticular stock, which permits the user's investment portfolio to bemore diversified.

In this example embodiment, the user is able to submit a query to theapplication including one or more questions and the system server 24 isable to utilize the personal aspects/characteristics of the user toprovide a timely, correct answer to the question. The application gainsan understanding of the user's personal characteristics by analyzingelements of previous transactions as described in this disclosure. Forinstance, the application understands aspects of the user including butnot limited to the user's gender, geographic location, income, family,sports interests, hobbies, etc. Having this information permits theapplication to recommend products and applications that relate to theindividual aspects of the user, not a simple general interest but aninterest that directly relates to the user. For example, there exists anew benefits plan in the user's company. There are different 401kinvestment plans among with the user is able to choose from andincorporate into his or her portfolio.

The user may not understand the choices presented in the user interfaceand may submit a question to the application for assistance into whichtype of investment would be best suited as a path of investment.Accordingly, the user sends a message within the application interfaceasking: “Which investment plan should I consider in the new 401k plan?”This message is sent from the user's client device 18/20/22 and thecontroller 56 receives the message and it is parsed. The controller 56sees that the message is a new question and that the message is not partof an existing conversation and therefore sends the message to thesystem server 24 for further processing. The message is sent to theforwarding plane 58, which forwards the message to the system server 24.The system server 24, through interactions detailed in the sectiondetermines the following characteristics of the user: male, 33 yearsold, married, 2 children, etc.

The system server 24 interacts with the application with a published APIpermitting the application to query the user's software program“investment software” with defined parameters and receive results fromthe software. In this example, the parameters sent to the softwareapplication are the characteristics of the user which were previouslyobtained. Having the detailed characteristics of the user, the systemserver 24 can automatically obtain the best investment path for the userwithout interfacing with other people. This occurs automatically throughthe interfacing with the published API(s).

The system 24 determines that, given the characteristics of the user,the best investment path is an investment product entitled “ModerateGrowth”. Furthermore, the published API returns a web address in theform of a universal resource locator (URL) that directs towards moreinformation detailing the specific investment functionality of themoderate growth investment product. The system server 24 responds to theuser by sending a message detailing the ‘Moderate Growth’ investmentproduct along with the URL for the user to gather more information onthe product.

FIG. 7 illustrates a system signaling message flow that automaticallyresponds to a question according to example embodiments. Referring toFIG. 7, the message flow 1600 illustrates the system server 24automatically answering a question from the user. In a backgroundprocess of the user device's operation, and without the interaction bythe user, the application may perform certain actions at intervals thatare predetermined by the application and set in the configuration areaof the application. Those actions may include querying the client device18/20/22 to determine the latest characteristics and/or interests of theuser. The messages 1604, 1606, 1608 and 1610 reflect the interactionbetween the system server 24 and the client device 18/20/22 indetermining the most recent characteristics of the user. The usercharacteristics 1602 may be stored on the system server 24 and the morerecent characteristics can be identified and updated via a ‘DetermineCharacteristics’ (DC) message 1604 and may be repeated at each of thepredetermined intervals to update the DC information.

The system server 24 executes a process to determine the characteristicsof the user 1602. This process involves the sending of a message“Message Determine Characteristic (DC)” 1604, which is sent to thenetwork 16 and routed 1606 to the client device 18/20/22. The clientdevice 18/20/22 responds with the current characteristics of the user1608 sent to the network 16 and routed 1610 to the system server 24. Theuser device 18/20/22 sends a message 1612 with the contents: “Which 401kplan should I choose?” The message is sent to the controller 56 whichparses and sends the message to the forwarding plane 58 via message 1614and it is routed to the system server 24. The system server 24 processesthe text and utilizes the characteristics as determined by the process1602, and determines the best plan as it interacts with the API of thebenefits software. The system server 24 determines an investment productthat would be best for the user utilizing the characteristics of theuser. A response message 1618 is sent to the controller 56, which issent 1620 to the user's client device 18/20/22. Additionally, a URL isprovided to the user device so the user is able to select the link inthe response message to gain more information on the investment productthat is recommended.

In another embodiment, a determined time period is establishedpermitting the user's characteristics to be determined 1602 and receivedfrom the system server/database 24/26 via a Msg (DC) 1604. This timeperiod is either automatically configured (hard-coded in the software),or determined by the user in the configuration module of the software sothe user is able to specify the amount of time to elapse betweenobtaining the current characteristics of the user (i.e., minutes, hours,days, weeks, months, etc.).

Assume that the user is receiving messages that pertain to a newinvestment fund that the organization is offering. The messages may befrom other users inside or outside the organization. Furthermore, thesemessages originate from users that vary in different usercharacteristics, for example, age, gender, location, family size, debt,income, etc. The current application offers messages that pertain moreto the user as the current application has an understanding of theuser's age, race, income, gender, debt, etc. These messages also can beobtained by experts in the current category and not by other users. Inanother embodiment, additional information can be obtained byknowledgeable users who are not considered a professional, for example,a nonprofessional user who is familiar with the subject. Furthermore,assuming that the messages pertain to investments, such as ‘large cap’and ‘small cap’ funds, yet do not include ‘bond funds’ due to theirhigher risk and flexibility, the current application can create andforward other messages pertaining to bond funds as it understands theage and other characteristics of the user. Or, the approach may be tonot take additional risk with investments if the user is pastretirement. The aggressive stock funds may be directed to younger-agedusers who have the ability to weather more risk in the investments.

The messages may be received from other users, or obtained by moreprofessional message originators in the given field. The system serverinteracts with the client device 18/20/22 of the user to determine thecharacteristics and interests of the user such as the user's age,gender, interests, marital status, income, etc. These characteristicspermit the system to process and obtain an understanding of the natureof investments that would be beneficial to the user. The SDN networkapproach may be utilized to queue and utilize priority to permit theapplication to send and receive packets according to the application'srequirements and actions, which may change over time.

In the various examples, the system server 24 is obtaining informationfrom a variety of sources (i.e., the client device 18/20/22, thedatabase 26, the Internet 16, etc.). This information is gathered in thesystem server 24 and the messages are originated and sent to the user(s)in the conversation offering helpful data that was not specificallyrequested. As an example, assume that a current legal issue scenario hasvarious people providing input via messaging that is public or internalto the organization. Various people are providing input to the issue butthe user may not understand the background of those that are providinginput. Multiple messages may be received that are similar in nature, thesystem may collect and queue those messages and then permit thesemultiple messages to be delivered along with previous messages in asimilar category.

In one example, the application may provide input from a more legalaspect by citing a recent court ruling or case law that adds legalperspective to an issue. For example, the issue could be the hiring offoreigners in the organization. A recent case where the issue is eithersame or similar may have been heard in court and the result of theruling can be presented to a question or in response to certainactivity.

The system server 24 may obtain information from multiple sources andsubmit data to the user(s) devices participating in a currentconversation. The system server 24 can monitor the conversation so themessages in the conversation are parsed and in one embodiment stored inthe system/DB 24/26. The application also can query professionalsources, such as through published APIs from entities that are able tooffer a more professional approach to the subject being discussed. Theresults of the query(s) permit the system server 24 to interjectmessages into the current conversation that provide a more professionalview of the subject in the conversation.

In another embodiment of the current application, the system server 24initiates input automatically and without any input or query from theuser. FIG. 9 illustrates an example flow diagram 1700 of a userinitiating input automatically. Referring to FIG. 9, the diagram 1700illustrates a message flow of one possible implementation of the currentapplication 1700 illustrating the system 24 automatically initiating arecommendation to the user(s).

In operation, the system server 24 sends a recommendation message 1705after determining that a recommendation is beneficial. This can bedetermined by the monitoring of the user's interactions (texting, email,groups, etc.). The recommendation message that is created is routedthrough the network 16 and delivered to the controller 56. Thecontroller forwards the recommendations message 1710 to the user'sclient device 18/20/22. The message can be routed through the forwardingplane 58 in one example. As the user did not request the data in therecommendation message, there may be an indication in the delivery ofthe information of the recommendation message that the information isfrom the application/system of the current application such that theuser is easily able to identify the data's origin. This can include atitle component in the GUI component of the delivery of the data in therecommendation message to the user's client device 18/20/22 or someother indication (e.g., color change of the window component, differenttypeface of the text in the window component, etc.).

In another embodiment of the application, there is a component displayedon the user's client device 18/20/22 that permits the user to interactwith the data of the recommendation message 1710 on the display of theclient device 18/20/22. This component can be a text input component, abutton component or any other component permitting for interaction. Uponinteraction with that component, if necessary, a result message is sentto the system server 24 to process the interaction. This result message1715 is routed through the network 16 to the controller 56. Thecontroller forwards the message through the forwarding plane 58 and themessage 1720 is routed through the network 16 to the system server 24.As an example, we assume that a user had an adjustable rate mortgage(ARM), which will automatically adjust to a higher payment in 2 months.The system server 24, through interacting with the mortgage entity (forexample published APIs), identifies that there will be a jump in theinterest rate of the user's mortgage in 2 months. Without any requestfrom the user, the system server 24 and the application initiates anotification to the user. This notification permits the user to preparefor the increase in monthly payments of the mortgage and furtherexemplifies the benefit of the current application.

FIG. 10 illustrates a message flow of one possible implementation of thecurrent application. Referring to FIG. 10, the diagram 1800 illustratesthe system server 24 automatically informs a user of an anticipatedchange to mortgage payments. The system server 24 queries the remotesystem 14, in this example, the mortgage entity. This interaction can beprocessed through APIs linked to the remote system 14. The system server24 transmits a query message 1805 which is routed through the network 16and delivered to the remote system 14, which can respond by sending aresponse in the form of a result message 1810 which is routed throughthe Network 16 and delivered to the system server 24.

The process performed by the system server 24 includes identifyingchanges in the status of the user's loan with the mortgage entity. Theuser can automatically initiate this process at regular times, which canbe determined by the application either statically or through theconfiguration area of the application. The system server 24 sends arecommendations message 1815, which informs the user that the mortgageARM will end on a particular date and that the mortgage payment will beincreasing. This message is sent to the controller 56 and routed to theclient device 18/20/22 of the user through the network 16 and arecommendation 1820 may be received. Also, in the message may be datathat serves to inform the user of possible actions that can be taken toassist in readying the user for the increase in payment or to avoid theloan altogether if the user desires. For example, the user may want toincrease the monthly mortgage payment ahead of schedule or setup anotherloan plan.

In an alternate embodiment, the user has the option to connect with thebanking entity to alter the mortgage payment. There is a component onthe display of the client device 18/20/22, for example a buttoncomponent, which when pressed, automatically connects to the bankingentity where the user normally banks. This permits the user to setup achange of mortgage payments when the recommendations message 1815 isreceived. If necessary, a results message 1825 is sent from the clientdevice 18/20/22 to the controller 56 and routed 1830 through the network16 to the system server 24. This message serves to inform the system ofany interactions of the user with the client device 18/20/22 to keep thesystem server 24 informed of any changes. The system server 24 may alsoupdate the remote system 14 to initiate changes that may have beenreceived from the results message 1825/1830. This message, an updatemessage 1835 is sent through the network 16 to the remote system serverand may instruct the remote system to alter the monthly payment on theuser's mortgage.

FIG. 11 illustrates a notification or recommendation application systemconfiguration configured to perform one or more of the exampleembodiments of the present application. Referring to FIG. 11, the system1100 may be a module or device(s) that is configured to perform any ofthe above-noted operations. For instance, the system 1100 may include aninformation reception module 1110 that receives information as user datais accumulated based on identified queries, interests or other actionsthat cause information to be received and logged in accordance with auser account. The information processing module 1120 is responsible forretrieving the user information stored in memory 1140 and attempting tocreate user suggestions, notifications and perform subsequent processingoperations based on the known user initiated operations. The informationupdate module 1130 is responsible for storing in memory the user actionsand changes to user information that may occur from known user actions,preferences and current interests.

The system configuration 1100 may perform a method of operation thatincludes identifying an active application programming interface (API)of a presently operating application executing on a user device andidentifying input data populating at least one portion of the presentlyoperating application. The input data may then be stored and processedto identify a first topic of interest at an application server. Themethod may then include retrieving relevant content that is associatedwith the first topic of interest, and creating a recommendation messagebased on the relevant content.

The method may also include identifying an active applicationprogramming interface (API) of a presently operating applicationexecuting on a user device, identifying input data populating at leastone portion of the presently operating application via an applicationserver, retrieving at least one user characteristic, processing theinput data based on the at least one user characteristic and creating acustomized suggestion message that utilizes the at least one usercharacteristic to provide customized content in the customizedsuggestion message, and transmitting the customized suggestion messageto the user device.

The operations of a method or algorithm described in connection with theembodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in acomputer program executed by a processor, or in a combination of thetwo. A computer program may be embodied on a computer readable medium,such as a storage medium. For example, a computer program may reside inrandom access memory (“RAM”), flash memory, read-only memory (“ROM”),erasable programmable read-only memory (“EPROM”), electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (“EEPROM”), registers, hard disk, aremovable disk, a compact disk read-only memory (“CD-ROM”), or any otherform of storage medium known in the art.

An exemplary storage medium may be coupled to the processor such thatthe processor may read information from, and write information to, thestorage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integralto the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in anapplication specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”). In the alternative,the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components.For example FIG. 12 illustrates an example network element 1200, whichmay represent any of the above-described network components, etc.

As illustrated in FIG. 12, a memory 1210 and a processor 1220 may bediscrete components of the network entity 1200 that are used to executean application or set of operations. The application may be coded insoftware in a computer language understood by the processor 1220, andstored in a computer readable medium, such as, the memory 1210. Thecomputer readable medium may be a non-transitory computer readablemedium that includes tangible hardware components in addition tosoftware stored in memory. Furthermore, a software module 1230 may beanother discrete entity that is part of the network entity 1200, andwhich contains software instructions that may be executed by theprocessor 1220. In addition to the above noted components of the networkentity 1200, the network entity 1200 may also have a transmitter andreceiver pair conFIG.d to receive and transmit communication signals(not shown).

Although an exemplary embodiment of the system, method, and computerreadable medium of the present application has been illustrated in theaccompanied drawings and described in the foregoing detaileddescription, it will be understood that the application is not limitedto the embodiments disclosed, but is capable of numerous rearrangements,modifications, and substitutions without departing from the spirit orscope of the application as set forth and defined by the followingclaims. For example, the capabilities of the system of FIG. 8 can beperformed by one or more of the modules or components described hereinor in a distributed architecture and may include a transmitter, receiveror pair of both. For example, all or part of the functionality performedby the individual modules, may be performed by one or more of thesemodules. Further, the functionality described herein may be performed atvarious times and in relation to various events, internal or external tothe modules or components. Also, the information sent between variousmodules can be sent between the modules via at least one of: a datanetwork, the Internet, a voice network, an Internet Protocol network, awireless device, a wired device and/or via plurality of protocols. Also,the messages sent or received by any of the modules may be sent orreceived directly and/or via one or more of the other modules.

One skilled in the art will appreciate that a “system” could be embodiedas a personal computer, a server, a console, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a cell phone, a tablet computing device, a smartphoneor any other suitable computing device, or combination of devices.Presenting the above-described functions as being performed by a“system” is not intended to limit the scope of the present applicationin any way, but is intended to provide one example of many embodimentsof the present application. Indeed, methods, systems and apparatusesdisclosed herein may be implemented in localized and distributed formsconsistent with computing technology.

It should be noted that some of the system features described in thisspecification have been presented as modules, in order to moreparticularly emphasize their implementation independence. For example, amodule may be implemented as a hardware circuit comprising custom verylarge scale integration (VLSI) circuits or gate arrays, off-the-shelfsemiconductors such as logic chips, transistors, or other discretecomponents. A module may also be implemented in programmable hardwaredevices such as field programmable gate arrays, programmable arraylogic, programmable logic devices, graphics processing units, or thelike.

A module may also be at least partially implemented in software forexecution by various types of processors. An identified unit ofexecutable code may, for instance, comprise one or more physical orlogical blocks of computer instructions that may, for instance, beorganized as an object, procedure, or function. Nevertheless, theexecutables of an identified module need not be physically locatedtogether, but may comprise disparate instructions stored in differentlocations which, when joined logically together, comprise the module andachieve the stated purpose for the module. Further, modules may bestored on a computer-readable medium, which may be, for instance, a harddisk drive, flash device, random access memory (RAM), tape, or any othersuch medium used to store data.

Indeed, a module of executable code could be a single instruction, ormany instructions, and may even be distributed over several differentcode segments, among different programs, and across several memorydevices. Similarly, operational data may be identified and illustratedherein within modules, and may be embodied in any suitable form andorganized within any suitable type of data structure. The operationaldata may be collected as a single data set, or may be distributed overdifferent locations including over different storage devices, and mayexist, at least partially, merely as electronic signals on a system ornetwork.

It will be readily understood that the components of the application, asgenerally described and illustrated in the FIG.s herein, may be arrangedand designed in a wide variety of different configurations. Thus, thedetailed description of the embodiments is not intended to limit thescope of the application as claimed, but is merely representative ofselected embodiments of the application.

One having ordinary skill in the art will readily understand that theapplication as discussed above may be practiced with steps in adifferent order, and/or with hardware elements in configurations thatare different than those which are disclosed. Therefore, although theapplication has been described based upon these preferred embodiments,it would be apparent to those of skill in the art that certainmodifications, variations, and alternative constructions would beapparent, while remaining within the spirit and scope of theapplication. In order to determine the metes and bounds of theapplication, therefore, reference should be made to the appended claims.

While preferred embodiments of the present application have beendescribed, it is to be understood that the embodiments described areillustrative only and the scope of the application is to be definedsolely by the appended claims when considered with a full range ofequivalents and modifications (e.g., protocols, hardware devices,software platforms etc.) thereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: identifying an activeapplication programming interface (API) of a presently operatingapplication executing on a user device; identifying input datapopulating at least one portion of the presently operating applicationvia an application server; retrieving at least one user characteristic;processing the input data based on the at least one user characteristicby identifying a category of information associated with the input dataand a weight to apply to the at least one user characteristic, whereinthe weight is based on at least one of a source of the input data andthe category of information; creating a customized suggestion messagethat utilizes the at least one user characteristic and the appliedweight to provide customized content in the customized suggestionmessage; and transmitting the customized suggestion message to the userdevice.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: inserting auniversal resource locator (URL) in the customized suggestion message.3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: parsing the input data toidentify terms of interest; and comparing the terms of interest to theat least one user characteristic.
 4. The method of claim 3, furthercomprising: matching at least one term of interest to the at least oneuser characteristic; and querying a data source for content relevant tothe matched at least one term of interest.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the at least one user characteristic comprises at least one ofinformation selected, information received, requested information,groups linked to a user account, email messages, calendar events, webbrowsing history, location, games accessed, and video content accessed.6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving an updatemessage from the application server; and updating the at least one usercharacteristic based on at least one change identified in the updatemessage.
 7. An apparatus comprising: a processor configured to identifyan active application programming interface (API) of a presentlyoperating application executing on a user device; identify input datapopulating at least one portion of the presently operating applicationvia an application server; retrieve at least one user characteristic;process the input data based on the at least one user characteristic byidentification of a category of information associated with the inputdata and a weight to apply to the at least one user characteristic,wherein the weight is based on at least one of a source of the inputdata and the category of information; create a customized suggestionmessage that utilizes the at least one user characteristic and theapplied weight to provide customized content in the customizedsuggestion message; and a transmitter configured to transmit thecustomized suggestion message to the user device.
 8. The apparatus ofclaim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to insert auniversal resource locator (URL) in the customized suggestion message.9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configuredto parse the input data to identify terms of interest; and compare theterms of interest to the at least one user characteristic.
 10. Theapparatus of claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured tomatch at least one term of interest to the at least one usercharacteristic; and query a data source for content relevant to thematched at least one term of interest.
 11. The apparatus of claim 7,wherein the at least one user characteristic comprises at least one ofinformation selected, information received, requested information,groups linked to a user account, email messages, calendar events, webbrowsing history, location, games accessed, and video content accessed.12. The apparatus of claim 7, further comprising: a receiver configuredto receive an update message from the application server, and whereinthe processor is further configured to update the at least one usercharacteristic based on at least one change identified in the updatemessage.
 13. A non-transitory computer readable storage mediumconfigured to store instructions that when executed cause a processor toperform: identifying an active application programming interface (API)of a presently operating application executing on a user device;identifying input data populating at least one portion of the presentlyoperating application via an application server; retrieving at least oneuser characteristic; processing the input data based on the at least oneuser characteristic by identifying a category of information associatedwith the input data and a weight to apply to the at least one usercharacteristic, wherein the weight is based on at least one of a sourceof the input data and the category of information; creating a customizedsuggestion message that utilizes the at least one user characteristicand the applied weight to provide customized content in the customizedsuggestion message; and transmitting the customized suggestion messageto the user device.
 14. The non-transitory computer readable storagemedium of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured toperform: inserting a universal resource locator (URL) in the customizedsuggestion message.
 15. The non-transitory computer readable storagemedium of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured toperform: parsing the input data to identify terms of interest; andcomparing the terms of interest to the at least one user characteristic.16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15,wherein the processor is further configured to perform: matching atleast one term of interest to the at least one user characteristic; andquerying a data source for content relevant to the matched at least oneterm of interest.
 17. The non-transitory computer readable storagemedium of claim 13, wherein the at least one user characteristiccomprises at least one of information selected, information received,requested information, groups linked to a user account, email messages,calendar events, web browsing history, location, games accessed, andvideo content accessed, and wherein the processor is further configuredto perform receiving an update message from the application server, andupdating the at least one user characteristic based on at least onechange identified in the update message.